Tigers leave today on Asia Cup mission

Bangladesh national cricket team leaves Dhaka for Pakistan on Saturday with a hope to move to the 2nd round of the Asia Cup beginning on June 24.

Placed in group A of the Asia Cup, the Tigers will play their first match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 24 and take on Sri Lanka on June 25, both at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The final match of the 6-team meet will be held on July 6 at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The statistics suggests that the Asia Cup is not a happy hunting ground for Bangladesh as they won just one out of their 21 previous encounters. In 2004 in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh notched their first Asia Cup win crushing Hong Kong by 116 runs.

Apart from the match against Hong Kong, Bangladesh lost seven matches each to Pakistan and Sri Lanka and conceded six defeats to India.

Bangladesh Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (Captain), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Vice Captain), Mahmudullah Riyad, Tamim Iqbal, Alok Kapali, Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza, Shahriar Nafees Ahmed, Nazim Uddin, Roqibul Hassan, Shahadat Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehrab Hossain (Jr.), Dollar Mahmud and Musharraf Hossain.

Officials: Shafique-ul-Haque Heera (manager), Jamie Siddons (coach), Sarwar Imran (bowling coach), Mohammad Salah Uddin (bowling coach), Grant Trafford Luden (strength and conditioning coach), Darryn Lifson (physio), Nasir Ahmed (computer analyst) and Rabeed Imam (media manager).

--UNB, Dhaka

Popy: Film Srar: June 22, 2008

Popular film actress of Bangla Movie.

Group folk dance at Shilpakala Academy held

The Music and Dance Department of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organised two-day long group folk and classical dance presentation at Jatiya Sangeet O Nrityakala Kendra at Shilpakala Academy.

The two-day programme was inaugurated on June 18. On that day group folk dance was held at the auditorium.

The lighting on the stage and the colourful costumes of the performers created a beautiful ambiance and kept on providing amusement to the audience throughout the programme.

Ashraful Makbul, Chairman of Bangladesh Land Appeal Board, inaugurated the two-day programme as chief guest, while Shafique Alam Mehedi, Chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation was present as special guest on the occasion.

Among others, Shunil Chandra Das, Director of the Department of Music and Dance, spoke at the inaugural session. Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam, Director General of the Academy, chaired the function.

The speakers encouraged the young dancers to learn and practise more on both folk and classical dances in order to carry the tradition of the country's rich cultural heritage.

Not only that, all the folk music that were played and dances that were performed, portrayed Bengali culture.

The dancers presented the lives of fishermen, boatmen, farmers and other rural characters of the country.

Dance pieces of the programme were well choreographed. The audience enjoyed the synchronization of the steps by the skilled performers and after a busy day the audiences got a breath of fresh air from this performance that encapsulated quintessentially Bengali aspects.

Dance pieces 'Ranga matir pathe lo,' 'Lilabali Lilabali barajabati sai lo' received special appreciations by the audience.

Performers from twenty noted cultural organisations of the country participated in the programme.

Dance artistes from different organisations including Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts, Benuka Lalitakala Academy, Nrittyadhara, Padachinha, Rewaz Performers' School, Jago Art Centre, Nrittalok Shanskritik Kendro, Papri Academy, Tridhara, Jhankar Lalitakala Academy, Nrittangan, Shupta Bikash, Shukanya and others performed in the show.

The dances were supervised by Dipa Khondkar and were coordinated by AKM Firoze. Sunil Chandra Das directed the whole programme.